New Species: Myrmicocrypta camargoi

Myrmicocrypta camargoi Sosa-Calvo & Schultz 2010 Brazil The world’s ant fauna continues to yield new treasures. Myrmicocrypta camargoi, described in a new paper by Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo & Ted Schultz, is the largest species in this fungus-growing genus. source: Sosa-Calvo, J., Schultz, T.R. 2010. Three Remarkable New Fungus-Growing Ant Species of the Genus Myrmicocrypta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), [...]

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Jack Longino unveils the new 2009 line of Pheidole species

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New Species: Tetraponera merita

Tetraponera merita Ward 2009 is one of many aculeate species described in the pages of a new festschrift honoring Roy Snelling.  I can’t link to it, unfortunately, as the festschrift is printed the latest issue of the paper-only Journal of Hymenoptera Research. All the same, if you can get your hands on a copy the [...]

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New Species: Pheidole bigote

Doesn’t “bigote” mean “moustache” in Spanish? Why, yes.  It does. Pheidole bigote Longino 2009 Chiapas, Mexico The inimitable Jack Longino published a taxonomic paper today on the Central American Pheidole, including descriptions of some 23 new species.  Among these is the marvelously moustached P. bigote.  The function of the fantastic facial hair remains unknown. source: [...]

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New species: Forelius damiani

Forelius damiani Guerrero & Fernández 2008 Colombia The ant genus Forelius – named for the eminent Swiss myrmecologist Auguste Forel-  is known for its abundance in hot, dry climates in both North and South America.  This affinity for deserts has given the genus a markedly disjunct distribution, abundant in subtropical South America and in the [...]

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New Species: Pheidole rugithorax

Pheidole rugithorax Eguchi 2008 – Vietnam In today’s Zootaxa, Katsuyuki Eguchi has a taxonomic revision of the northern Vietnamese Pheidole, recognizing six new ant species for a genus that is already the world’s most diverse.  The revision also contains several nomeclatural changes and a key to the thirty or so species occurring in the region. [...]

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New Species: Lachnomyrmex amazonicus

The new world tropics continue to be a rich source of species discovery.  Today’s issue of Zootaxa contains a monograph by Rodrigo Feitosa and Beto Brandão revising the ant genus Lachnomyrmex, a small yet delightfully wrinkled group of soil-dwelling ants.  Of the 16 species recognized in the new paper, ten were previously unknown.  For the [...]

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Ant News Roundup

Asphinctopone differens Bolton & Fisher 2008 A new species from the Central African Republic Bolton & Fisher Revise Asphinctopone (Zootaxa) Shattuck Revises the Indo-Pacific Prionopelta All imported Fire Ants in the U.S. are descended from 9-20 initial foundress queens [summary in ScienceDaily] ZooKeys: A new open-access journal for biodiversity & taxonomy

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New Species: Pheidole pegasus

Pheidole pegasus Sarnat 2008 Fiji Eli Sarnat, the reigning expert on the Ants of Fiji, has just published a lovely taxonomic revision of a group of Pheidole that occur on the islands. Pheidole are found in warmer regions worldwide, but Fiji has seen a remarkable radiation of species that share a bizarre set of spines [...]

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New Species: Technomyrmex fisheri

Technomyrmex fisheri Bolton 2007 Madagascar, line drawing by Barry Bolton Last month, British myrmecologist Barry Bolton published the first ever global synthesis of the ant genus Technomyrmex. The tome describes 37 new species, including Technomyrmex fisheri from Madagascar, named after Brian Fisher of Antweb. I’m always keen to try out new taxonomic keys, so I [...]

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